24 Days of "24": The 24 Biggest Moments Part 2

So while I try to get some images from last night’s episode out of my head, let’s rejoin my countdown of the 24 biggest moments from “24” history…

#18 Aaron to the rescue (Season 5)
When Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce got in the car with the First Lady Martha Logan it seemed like his fate had been sealed. After all, the car, also carrying the Russian President and First Lady, was just minutes away from being attacked. And when the attack did happen, it appeared that Aaron was down and out. But he revived and ended up saving the day by blowing up the bad guy with the flamethrower. It was a great moment for a great character, but maybe more importantly, the show finally established a compelling B storyline. In fact, Jack barely appeared in the episode. And we were still completely riveted.

#17 Above the kneecap (Season 5)
In a recent interview, “24” EP/Showrunner Howard Gordon called this scene a mistake. I couldn’t disagree more. This moment was a classic “24” shocker. Jack, trying to get information from Henderson held a gun to his leg. But when Henderson refused to talk, Jack suddenly turned the gun on Henderson’s wife and shot her in the leg. When Henderson protested, Jack proclaimed he had shot her above the kneecap so she could still walk. Kiefer Sutherland recently said it was one of his favorite moments.

#16 Tony’s death (Season 5)
Ranking this one on the list was tough since the show totally redid this in Season 7. But it was a very intense moment at the time, culminating in Jack crying while holding his lifeless friend. The death itself was a little lame but the aftermath was one of the show’s most emotional moments ever.

#15 Jack cries (Season 3)
It certainly wasn’t the last time, but it was the first time we really saw Jack crumble. It came after his friend Tony was carted off to jail and he was forced to chop his daughter’s boyfriend’s hand off.

#14 Jack fakes his death (Season 4)
I knew it was all fake. I knew that Jack wasn’t actually going to die. But I still held my breath until Jack started breathing again. Adding to the intensity was the scene where Bill told Audrey Jack was dead, Jack’s goodbye to Tony and Michelle and Jack’s goodbye to President Palmer. It was all topped off by that gorgeous shot of Jack walking off into the sunrise.

#13 Jack lets Paul die (Season 4)
When the husband of Jack’s girlfriend, Audrey, appeared, we were sure he was a bad guy. But instead, Paul helped Jack and even saved his life, getting shot in the process. But when a nuclear researcher crucial to stopping a terrorist threat is critically wounded, Jack forces the surgeon to stop working on Paul and save the researcher. Paul crashes and dies leaving a devastated Audrey to blame Jack for Paul’s death.

We'll crack into the top 10 starting tomorrow...

Photo Credits: Michael Desmond/FOX, Kelsey McNeal/FOX & Isabella Vosmikova/FOX